Sunday, December 18, 2016

We Hanged the Wrong Guy in Iraq

Islamic State would not have enjoyed the success it did if Saddam Hussein had remained in power, John Nixon, the former CIA agent who grilled him, claims. Nixon says the West should deal with leaders it “abhors” to have a stable Middle East.

Nixon was the first to debrief Saddam after his capture in December 2003, 13 years ago. His book, entitled “Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein,” is a first-hand account of what the invasion of Iraq and the execution of Saddam Hussein have entailed.

No flourishing ISIS under Hussein

“In the course of interrogations, Saddam 'turned our assumptions upside down',” Nixon wrote in one of the excerpts from the book, published by Time and the Daily Mail. In particular, ex-CIA agent asks what would have happened if Saddam had remained in power and comes to the conclusion that, among other outcomes, it would have made the rapid rise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) almost impossible.

“It is improbable that a group like ISIS would have been able to enjoy the kind of success under his repressive regime that they have had under the Shia-led Baghdad government,” Nixon wrote.

According to the ex-agent, Saddam was well aware of the potential risks posed by the flourishing jihadist movements and was keen to suppress any such attempts. “Saddam felt that Islamist extremist groups in Iraq posed the biggest threat to his rule and his security apparatus worked assiduously to root out such threats.”

A recently published Chilcot report, conducted by British MPs on the country’s involvement in the 2003 Iraq war, backs Nixon’s assumption on IS.

The documents show that by 2006 – three years into the occupation – UK intelligence chiefs were increasingly concerned about the rise of Sunni jihadist resistance. Those radicals and parts of the disbanded Iraqi military later joined radical jihadist groups, including ISIS, the report said.West may deal with leaders ‘we abhor’ to have peace in Middle East

Despite being no friend of Hussein, Nixon writes that he had “a grudging respect for how he [Saddam] was able to maintain the Iraqi nation as a whole for as long as he did.” The former CIA agent noted that he did not “wish to imply that Saddam was innocent,” since the measures used included “murder, blackmail, imprisonment.”

Yet in light of internal chaos and violence between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims which erupted following the 2003 US-led invasion, one may consider Hussein not the worst option, according to Nixon.Trump warns that by attacking Assad, US will ‘end up fighting Russia’“In hindsight, the thought of having an ageing and disengaged Saddam in power seems almost comforting in comparison with the wasted effort of our brave men and women in uniform and the rise of Islamic State, not to mention the £2.5 trillion spent to build a new Iraq,” he wrote. Nearly 4,500 American personnel, 179 British troops and estimated 150,000 Iraqis were killed during the active phase of the war and in the years which followed.

Nixon says he was also warned by the late leader that American attempts to stabilize the country were doomed to fail. “You are going to fail in Iraq because you do not know the language, the history, and you do not understand the Arab mind,” the ex-CIA agent quoted Hussein as telling him.

Despite the Iraqi army and militia backed by Washington now achieving some success in destroying Islamic State, “we [the US] are still far from achieving this goal," Nixon said.

According to Nixon, incoming US President Donald Trump will now have a chance to “play a very large role” in creating a new order in the Middle East. “This will require making tough decisions and, ultimately, recognizing that we may have to deal with people and leaders that we abhor if we want to help bring stability back to the region and limit the scope of terrorism’s reach.”

Following his election, Trump warned against pursuing regime change in Syria and said the US should focus on tackling the threat of Islamic State. “My attitude was you’re fighting Syria, Syria is fighting ISIS, and you have to get rid of ISIS,” Trump said. He added that while Washington is backing rebels against President Assad, it has “no idea who these people are.”

The consequences of President Barack Obama’s abandonment of a hard-won victory in Iraq and wimping out on his infamous “red line” in Syria will bedevil the United States when President-elect Trump takes office. Al Arabiya reports:

The leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched provocative statements against the Gulf states threatening to intervene in Bahrain and Yemen.

The comments were reported by Iranian media after what they described as a “victory in Aleppo,” upon the massacres, starvation and displacement against civilians. Aleppo was considered as one of the strongholds of the opposition; however, the Syrian regime took a hold of it with the help and support of Iranian and Russian military troops.

In this context, the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Hossein Salami told the official Iranian news agency Islamic Republic News Agency that “The victory in Aleppo will pave the way for liberating Bahrain,” pointing out that Iran has an expansion project that will extend to Bahrain, Yemen and Mosul after the fall of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Salami said that “the people of Bahrain will achieve their wishes, the Yemeni people will be delighted, and the residents of Mosul will taste victory, these are all divine promises,” as he put it.

He also pointed out that Iran is still providing unlimited support for the Houthi group, highlighting that Iranian missile could destroy the enemy targets in any area.

Salami described the control of the Syrian regime forces on the Syrian city of Aleppo, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians as “a conquest.”

The comments of the spokesman for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Ramadan Sharif reveal the intentions of Tehran to expand geographically through bloody wars and military interventions in the Arab World.

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Provinces contain a large population of Shiite Muslims who could well support the Iranians over their own Shiite-run regimes. The IRG here is threatening the consequences many of us warned about when President Obama defaulted on the Iraq victory and his red line. A Shia Crescent surrounding the world’s biggest current source of oil.

Weakness is provocative, a lesson that President Obama has yet to learn.

Much of the military leadership of ISIS comes from Saddam's old military pals.

Right, the same ones the US booted out along with the rest of the Iraqi army. The same ones being chased by the Bush administration's hand picked new prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. The same ones forced into exile in Syria. The same ones that were looking for jobs there, jobs that world fit their resumes.

In a story worthy of a Star Trek episode, five Pakistani girls were murdered for the crime of dancing with a boy, and then, when authorities came to investigate, they found the Pakistanis replaced with duplicates. It didn't take a tricorder to figure out that while these were not robots or shapeshifters, neither were these the same girls, but rather close relatives of the murdered girls.

It was just a few seconds, a video clip of several young women laughing and clapping to music, dressed for a party or a wedding in orange headscarves and robes with floral patterns. Then a few more seconds of a young man dancing alone, apparently in the same room.

The cellphone video was made six years ago, in a village deep in Kohistan, a rugged area of northwest Pakistan. It was the last time the young women, known only as Bazeegha, Sareen Jan, Begum Jan, Amina and Shaheen, have ever been definitively seen alive.

According to court filings and interviews with people who investigated it, the families confined the girls for weeks, threw boiling water and hot coals on them, then killed them and buried them somewhere in the Kohistan hills.

Later, when investigators appeared, relatives and community leaders insisted that the girls were still alive and produced a second set of similar-looking girls to prove it.

The head of the local jirga, a Muslim cleric, allegedly issued a religious decree ordering the five girls to be killed for dishonoring their tribe, along with the boy seen dancing and every member of his family. There was no resistance from the community. After the girls were disposed of, several brothers of the boy were also caught and killed.

But two of the girls they produced were much younger than the victims, according to their official birth dates. A third could not be identified because both thumbs had been burned; her parents insisted that it was from a cooking accident. He concluded that at least two girls did not match the ones in the video and that the others were probably also imposters.

Questions for discussion:

1) Which is a bigger mystery: whether the girls were replaced with duplicates, or why Pakistanis and other Muslims murder their own children?

2) Can anyone tell me why we are still admitting students, visitors, and refugees from countries whose culture is a mishmash of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones?

15 April 2008: In Baquba, as many as 53 people were killed and at least 70 more were wounded during a car bombing near the courthouse.[8] A suicide bomber killed 13 people and injured 20 more outside a kebab restaurant in Ramadi.[9] Five policemen were killed and four more were wounded during a suicide bombing at a checkpoint in the Hamidhiya area of Ramadi.[10] In Mosul, a double car bombing killed three people and wounded at least 16 people.[11] In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed four people and wounded 15 in a central neighborhood.[8]

17 April 2008: Near Tuz Khormato in the village of al-Bu Mohammed, at least 50 people were killed and 55 more were wounded when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives at a funeral for two U.S.-allied militia members killed a day earlier. The older bomber was dressed in traditional garb and allowed to enter the funeral freely.[12]

18 April 2008: A suicide bomber attacked a U.S. military patrol near Tikrit killing one soldier.[13]

21 April 2008: A female suicide bomber attacked a U.S.-allied militia post, killing four people and wounding five others in Baquba.[14]

22 April 2008: A suicide car bomber at a checkpoint near Ramadi killed two U.S. Marines and wounded three more. Two policemen and 24 civilians were also wounded. A second car bombing, this one at a police station in the city, wounded 20 people, including women and policemen.[15] In Jalawla, a female suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded 17 at a police station.[16]

23 April 2008: A coordinated attack in Mosul left four dead and nine injured. First, a suicide bomber detonated his vest. When first responders arrived a car bomb blasted them.[17]

25 April 2008: A series of bombings hit Mosul. Six people were killed, including two policemen, and five others were wounded during a suicide car bombing. Another suicide car bomber killed three and wounded six at an Iraqi army checkpoint. A suicide fuel truck bomber wounded 40 at an Iraqi army base. A car bomb in the Danadan neighborhood wounded three people.[18][19]

27 April 2008: Another suicide bombing was conducted in Mosul which left four policemen dead.[20]

29 April 2008: A female suicide bomber killed two U.S.-allied militiamen and wounded ten others in Baquba.[21] Meanwhile, another female suicide bomber in al-Saldiya killed one person and injured five people, including the district chief.[21]

30 April 2008: A U.S. soldier was killed in an explosion near Mosul.[22]

1 May 2008: A female suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded 76 others in Balad Ruz. After the bomber struck a wedding convoy, another suicide bomber targeted the first responders who arrived on the scene.[23] A car bomb targeting a U.S. patrol killed ten and wounded 26 others near Camp Sara in Baghdad, one U.S. soldier was among the dead and three American soldiers were wounded.[24]

2 May 2008: Insurgents infiltrated across the Syrian border into Al Anbar province and rounded up and beheaded 11 policemen, along with a son of one of them, from the al-Rimana police station in the area of the border city of Al-Qaim.[25] Four U.S. Marines were killed when their vehicle drove over an IED in al-Anbar province.[26] Also, two Georgian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province.[27]

13 May 2008: A roadside bomb in Mosul killed five Iraqi soldiers.[citation needed]

14 May 2008: A suicide bomber attacked a Sunni funeral west of Baghdad killing 22 people. A teenage girl, who was strapped with an explosive belt, blew up near Yusifiyah, targeting an Iraqi Army patrol, leaving an Iraqi Army captain dead and seven other soldiers wounded.[29]

16 May 2008: A suicide car bomber attacked a Fallujah police station. Four policemen were killed and nine others were wounded.[30]

18 May 2008: A car bomb hit an Iraqi Army patrol in the Zayouna district of Baghdad killing two soldiers and wounding four others.[citation needed]

19 May 2008: In the town of Baaj, 130 kilometers from Mosul, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying police recruits killing 11 of them.[31]

766 to 1 and this was still allowed.

And that was just from al Qaeda. As you mention, there were other militant groups fighting the US coalition and the Malaki regime it helped install. Of course, all of those groups were being contained by Sadaam before the US invasion. And they were joined by a widespread uprising after the US invasion.

Sounds like a sweet place to vacation. In 2008. No doubt, that's why the Bush administration signed the agreement with Iraq to remove all US forces by 2011. No doubt, that's why Bush pushed for Malaki to become prime minister, which led to his sectarian purges of his political opposition, ex-military, Baathists, and Sunni opposition.

Boondock Bob's commentary proves he hasn't a clue as to the provenance of ISIS and instead merely mouths the self-serving arguments of the Iraq war dead-enders who are still trying to to justify and excuse their pitiful performance during the Iraq War.

It's a performance that reflects the same naivete (being extremely generous, of course) and/or partisan and petty denial of their own culpability in the clusterfuck they created.

It's a performance that reflects the same naivete (being extremely generous, of course) and/or partisan and petty denial of their own culpability in the clusterfuck they created that is currently evident on the part of the Dems currently trying to excuse their own pitiful performance in the latest election.

All suicide vest bombs or car bombs....low level stuff in the scheme of things(unless of course you're one of the dead)....low level intellects male and female are often called upon and convinced to do these jobs....by citing these you have lost your argument, cut yourself off at the knees, slithered out of serious debate, walked off the debate stage, drew gaffaws from your own crowd there at The Olde Mafia Barber Shoppe who all know better.....

All suicide vest bombs or car bombs....low level stuff in the scheme of things

What were we talking about?

I posted about al Qaeda in response to Deuce's post on Sadaam. You come back with this...

Fake news which, with a slight of hand, attempts to create a meme that equates 'Sunni jihadist resistance' with al Queda.

By the time Bush left office all was, mostly, quiet.

I gave examples of what al Qaeda 'accomplished' in one month in 2008. But of course there was more that was going on other than what these 1000 guys were doing.

As for quiet, well if you consider the over 300 dead US troops in 2008, I guess. Or the 10,000-20,000 civilian deaths. Or the deaths of militants, other coalition members, contractors, Iraqi Army and police, well, I guess I can see how that would seem quiet to a guy from the big lights and fast times of the boondocks of Idaho.

Civilians deaths in Iraq were down substantially from 2006 and 2007, the worst years of the war; but they were pretty much equivalent to the other 3 years under Bush.

Point is, when Bush left the situation was under control from a military point of view. O'bozo took the troops out and very very soon all hell broke out.

Nonsense, the last US troops left Iran in by in 2011.

Iraq wasn't hit by ISIS until 2014.

In the six years between the time Bush installed Maliki as PM and 2014, Maliki purged his enemies among both Kurds and Sunni. He pushed a sectarian agenda that isolated and angered the Sunni. And he gutted the Iraqi military and allowed the corruption that turned it into a cheap suit that folded when challenged by a few thousand thugs in pick up trucks.

That's the legacy of the Bush administration not of Obama. The Iraq government is arguably considered the third most corrupt government in the world after Somalia and Afghanistan.

The 'Obama pulled the troops out too soon' meme is simply to excuse dreamed up by the Iraq war dead-enders and their useful idiots to explain how they could have been so tragically wrong on Iraq.

The Iraq government is among a select group which includes NK, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Angola, and Afghanistan that are considered the worst of the worst in the world when it comes to corruption.

It's interesting to note that of the seven, the US has been engaged militarily in 3 of them directly, 4 if you consider Somalia where its been announced a couple hundred 'advisors' will soon be sent. The have also been indirectly involved in 2 others (unless you consider the intervention that led to Black Hawk down in Sudan) direct. Which leaves only 2, Angola and NK, in which the US hasn't been substantially involved.

In three, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, the US has contributed greatly to the current instability and corruption.

Last month the San Francisco Board of Supervisors issued a warning to president-elect Donald Trump by passing a resolution reaffirming the city’s commitment to the rights and values of the LBGTQ community, protecting healthcare, women’s rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, the environment (and more) – all of which are at great risk with the incoming administration.

Williams first attempted suicide in 1993 by hammering a knife into her chest where it lodged in her sternum. However, she changed her mind and called Swenson to take her to the hospital.[6] She attempted suicide again in 1997 with an overdose of ephedrine.[6]

Williams died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 6, 1998, when she was 48. Rod Swenson, her significant other for more than 20 years, returned to their home in the area where they had lived since moving to Connecticut from New York City. He found a package that she left him with some special noodles he liked, a packet of seeds for growing garden greens, some Oriental massage balm and sealed letters from her. The suicide letters which included a "living will" denying life support, a love letter to Swenson and various lists of things to do which caused Swenson to begin searching the woods for her. After about an hour, as dusk began, he found her body in a wooded area where she would often feed the wildlife.

Several nut shells were on a nearby rock where she had apparently been feeding some of the squirrels before she died. Swenson checked the body for a pulse, but found none. A pistol lay on the ground nearby, and he returned to the house to call the local authorities. "Wendy's act was not an irrational in-the-moment act," he said; for four years she had contemplated suicide. Swenson reportedly described her as "despondent" at the time of her death.[16] This is what she is said to have written[17] in a suicide note regarding her decision:

“I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me, much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm."

'Below are several pictures of some of the women who died, taken in happier times. Many more can be viewed here. Stories of loss and mourning are many on Arabic Christian websites. One slain young lady was engaged and on her way to being married in a couple of weeks; another had just finished medical school and on her way to becoming a doctor; one mother lost her only two children, two daughters.'

Open question to the bar (especially Ash, Deuce, and other computer literates -- no, Bob, not you)...

My computer just started talking to me saying it was a message from Microsoft and that my computer had a malware on it and that if I called a certain number they could walk me through how to get rid of it; and by the way, do not shut down the file I was on before calling the number otherwise Microsoft 'would be forced to disable my computer'. Yeh, I know. Anyway, I shut down the files and ran my malware programs and the Norton security suite but couldn't find anything. I'm hoping it was just a phishing trip by someone.

Anyway,that brings up my question. I'm kind of paranoid about privacy and internet security, but I bought my wife one of those ECHO machines from Amazon for Christmas. It looked kind of neat and reviews I read on it were positive for the most part. Kind of like a small Star Trek computer.

Anyway, you you see any big risks in attaching this thingy to my home wi-fi?

[Note: I admit my status as IT incompetent. Heck, that's what you have son-in-laws and grandkids for. I'm of the generation that doesn't even read IKEA assembly instructions.]

Thus, the reason hicks from Idaho, like Bob (who spent years getting periodically locked out of his computer, unable to manage a Google sign-in screen, and struggling with his inability to even figure out how to delete a post he had put up)are asked not to respond.

That particular warning the computer screams at you is a nasty little piece of work but not a real problem. To close it down you go to task manager and end the task/kill process for the browser of which it has 'taken control'. Don't call the number - it's a scam. Sometimes that web page will come up again when you launch the browser again. If it does kill it in Task Manager again and restart. After a couple of times it shouldn't re-occur. That is, until you go to that web page where they throw pop-up ads at you where sometimes that one is mixed in.

As to the other device you mention I don't know it but don't worry about hooking it up to your Wi-Fi as long as you have a password set-up to access your Wi-Fi.

I don't think you should sweat internet security and privacy stuff too much. The main thing is don't get lured into clicking on those damn emails where they want to you to open the attachment. That will often launch an exe file which you give permission to go ahead and that can compromise your security. I heard that's how Podesta's emails were hacked.

Speaking of productivity :) Internet Banking, purchasing, and sending of money is really handy. I run my business, personal accounts, and investment accounts all through the intertubes. The banks have well designed security it certainly makes life more productive.

on the privacy front you can engage in 'private browsing' most browsers now offer that option. You can also set up your cookie policies which is how they track you. On the other hand leaving all that stuff going can actually work for you as you don't have to repeat tasks over and over (like logging in to google) and, heck, you might even get ads that are tailored to you *gasp*

Thanks, Ash. I've already received the ECHO so I'm really just looking for someone to pat me on the head and say no problem. My Wi-Fi is password protected and I keep all my financial transactions on the one with a direct feed to the modem and that info isn't shared between computers. On all the miscellaneous added hardware like XBox I have that double sign-in procedure set up for extra safety. I've got malware and anti-virus software.

However, I'm a bit paranoid. I avoid the cloud where I can what with all the hacks we've seen.

I find in Windows 10 that the stock "Defender" is perfectly adequate. All those third party malware and virus detectors can really bog down the system. An old computer freak used to say "The anti-virus is the virus".

....it was a message from Microsoft and that my computer had a malware on it and that if I called a certain number they could walk me through how to get rid of it; and by the way, do not shut down the file I was on before calling the number otherwise Microsoft 'would be forced to disable my computer'....

Meanwhile, until Quirk figures out his mental status, a big Allahu Akbar attack in Berlin via truck driving into crowds of shoppers, and, earlier, a Turk bigwig taken out via shooting by an Allahu Akbar dude....

There is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek, though still quite real, phenomenon known as "Nobel Disease." For some reason, many people who have won a Nobel Prize went on to become infamous for saying and believing incredibly stupid things, some of which are quite delusional.

Two explanations seem most likely. First, a person who wins a Nobel Prize may begin to think that all of his ideas are prize-worthy. As a result, like being intoxicated with alcohol, a Nobel laureate may feel less inhibited to blurt out whatever is on his mind. Second, it's possible that Nobel laureates are a bit kooky to begin with; earth-shattering ideas often don't come from pedestrian minds.

The newest inductee into this dubious club is Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and columnist for the New York Times. Recently on Twitter, he insinuated that Donald Trump may orchestrate a 9/11-style attack to boost his presidency.

For lack of a better word, that is insane.

After much pushback, including a stinging rebuke from Mediaite and various other outlets, Dr Krugman slightly walked back his comments, suggesting instead that Mr Trump will simply start a war with another country. Dr Krugman has always been a bomb thrower, but it appears that he has been emboldened by his new Swedish credentials.

Alas, he is in good company. Other Nobel Disease sufferers have included...

The search warrant materials' release sought by Randol Schoenberg, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, who in court papers said transparency was crucial given the potential influence the probe had on the election's outcome.

Sources close to the investigation have said the emails were discovered during an unrelated probe into former Democratic U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

In his order, Castel said he would allow the redaction of the identities of two unnamed individuals, one of whom is subject to an "ongoing criminal investigation."But he said the "strong presumption of access attached to the search warrant and related materials is not overcome by any remaining privacy interest of Secretary Clinton."

Lawyers for Clinton and Abedin did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the U.S. Justice Department. A lawyer for Weiner had no immediate comment.

Clinton used the server while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

In July, Comey recommended no criminal charges be brought over Clinton's handing of classified information in the emails, although he said she and her colleagues were "extremely careless" in handling such information.

In his Oct. 28 letter to Congress, Comey said emails potentially related to the Clinton server probe had been discovered in an "unrelated case."

Sources close to the investigation have said the emails were discovered during an unrelated probe into Weiner following a media report that he engaged in sexually explicit cellphone and online messaging with a 15-year-old girl.

Federal investigators got a warrant to examine the emails to see if they were related to the probe into Clinton's private server. Only two days before the election, Comey disclosed that the emails did nothing to change his earlier recommendation.

At least five Democrats who had been committed to back Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Electoral College cast ballots for other people on Monday, the largest number of "faithless electors" seen in well over a century.

The 538 electors were voting across the country to confirm Republican Donald Trump as the next president. The event is normally a formality but took on extra prominence this year after some Democrats urged electors to revolt and switch to Clinton, who won the national popular vote on Nov. 8.In the end, it was not Republicans breaking ranks. The Democratic dissidents - four from Washington state and one from Maine - underscored deep divisions within their party and effectively dashed long-shot hopes by some activists that Republicans pledged to Trump might back Clinton.

By late afternoon, no Republican elector was reported to have cast a ballot for anyone other than Trump, although one elector from Texas had written that he planned to do so.

The move by the five was a rare break from the tradition - and in many states a legal requirement - of casting an Electoral College ballot as directed by the outcome of that state's popular election.

It appeared to be the largest number of electors not supporting their party's nominee since 1872, when 63 Democratic electors did not vote for party nominee Horace Greeley, who had died after the election but before the Electoral College convened, according to Fairvote.org. Republican Ulysses S. Grant had won re-election in a landslide.

There is almost no chance that Monday's vote will change the outcome of the election, which gave the White House to Trump after he won a majority of Electoral College votes. The New York businessman is set to take office on Jan. 20...

The Philippines said yesterday it will not “deviate from” an international tribunal ruling that rejected China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea but it must build trust with China before discussing “sensitive” bilateral issues. China rejected the July ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague after the tribunal determined that China had breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights by endangering its ships and fishing and oil projects.

...

Earlier, a former foreign minister, Albert del Rosario, said he was disturbed by the government’s setting aside of the tribunal ruling while unwinding military dealings with the long-time ally the United States. “The foregoing declarations are most sadly being made after we had taken a firm rules-based position to defend what is ours — and won,” del Rosario said in a statement.

Calls for members of the Electoral College to 'vote your conscience' have paid off - but not for Hillary Clinton supporters

A handful of 'Hamilton electors,' who are Democrats, chose to vote for moderate Republicans like John Kasich or Colin Powell

They had hoped that Republicans would follow suit peeling away the electors needed to elect Donald Trump president

By mid-afternoon Trump was close to receiving the 270 votes he would need to officially clinch the White House

Bill Clinton was a member of New York's electoral college and was in Albany to cast a vote for his wife Four 'faithless' electors cast votes in Washington state not for Clinton, while attempts were made in Maine, Colorado and Minnesota....

By Nikki Schwab, U.s. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com and Associated PressPUBLISHED: 18:12 GMT, 19 December 2016 | UPDATED: 23:58 GMT, 19 December 2016

A senior Iranian military commander has threatened further wars of conquest after describing the recent collapse of the Syrian opposition in Aleppo as an “Islamic conquest”, as footage has appeared showing Syrian refugees attempting to evacuate the ravaged city being shot at by Iran-backed Shia jihadists.

In comments to local Iranian media, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Hossein Salami said: “It is now time for the Islamic conquests. After the liberation of Aleppo, Bahrain’s hopes will be realised and Yemen will be happy with the defeat of the enemies of Islam.”

The IRGC commander also said that “the people of Mosul will taste the taste of victory,” in reference to the ongoing Mosul operations.

The taste of “victory”, however, tasted of blood and terror in Aleppo as the Middle East correspondent for BuzzFeed News tweeted footage of what pro-Assad regime Iranian proxies were doing there.

Borzou Daragahi tweeted “This is what hell on earth looks like,” as video footage from the devastated city shows “hungry, freezing men, women and children” who are trying to evacuate Aleppo are fired upon by the Shia jihadists....

The enemedia and the elites assign mental illness to Islamic violence, sharia enforcement.

“Mental illness”sanctions Muslim men to execute women who are judged to be in violation of Islamic law. In every case of jihad and sharia violence, we are admonished and warned not to “rush to judgment,” but law enforcement and media elites immediately rush to call it insanity.

The Ottawa Police pronounced the perpetrator insane at a press conference even as they lay criminal charges of murder? Talk about undermining your own case. If the suspect is mentally ill, then he is not culpable, and criminal charges should not have been laid.

Once again, the old “mentally ill” card is played right out of the gate as a Muslim slaughters two female members of his family.

What did they do that made him “mentally ill”? Did they expose their hair? Have non-Muslim boyfriends? Dishonour the family?

BROTHER CHARGED AFTER DOUBLE HOMICIDE LEAVES TWO WOMEN DEADThe two women were remembered by friends and family on Sunday as kind and thoughtful people.

1218-homicide-020-jpg

Metro file photo of an Ottawa police cruiser.

By Haley Ritchie Metro, Dec 18 2016

Ottawa Police Major Crimes unit has charged Musab A-Noor, 29, in the killing of his two sisters on Friday night.

Police were called to the 3200 block of McCarthy Road around 9 p.m. on Friday night in the city’s south end.

Inside the town home police found 32-year-old Asma A-Noor and 29-year-old Nasiba A-Noor dead from stab wounds.

A-Noor has been charged with first degree murder in the death of Asma and second degree murder in the death of Nasiba. Police have not yet determined a motive.

Nasiba taught at the Tarbiyah Learning Centre on 572 Moodie Drive in Nepean. Her biography at the school notes that she was teaching girls in Grade 5 to 8 about the Quran and Islamic Studies.

“I am in shock and disbelief,” wrote Ghazala Choudhary, principal of the school, in a public Facebook message.

a-funeral-was-held-at-the-jami-omar-mosque-in-ottawa-sunday4

“She was a calm, patient and kind individual. I will cherish seeing her sweet smile and exchanging salaams with her every morning. Watching her teach was always so peaceful and I will never forget her compassion towards her students,” she said.

“Her legacy should continue through those that she taught, and everyone who knew her and what she did for many,” wrote Suzanne Ragheb in response.

Nasiba was also a talented photographer. Her instagram account is filled with curated photos of nature, coffee shops and books.

Meanwhile, the US continued its flawed policy of stabilising the Afghan government, installed by it, through military means rather than through a political approach.Unsurprisingly, the Taliban resistance has not only continued but also gained in intensity since the withdrawal of the most of the US troops leaving behind a small residual force.

...

The real cause of the internal armed conflict in Afghanistan is the tussle for power and supremacy between the Pashtuns and the non-Pashtuns.The ultimate solution lies in national reconciliation and a political settlement between them rather in making unfair demands on Pakistan.

The US belatedly has been encouraging a dialogue between the current Afghan government and the Taliban for a political settlement in Afghanistan.But it needs to pursue this approach with greater clarity and vigour instead of merely continuing the mantra of telling Pakistan “to do more”.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the killing of Russia's ambassador in Turkey a "provocation" aimed at sabotaging warming ties between Moscow and Ankara and efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.